1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for transporting articles from one location to another. More particularly, the preferred embodiment of the present invention relates to a transport system used to convey one or more articles through an oven for curing.
2. Background of Art Related to the Invention
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is intended for transporting automatic transmission friction plates through an oven to cure the resin impregnating the friction material bonded thereto. Accordingly, while the present invention may be used for transporting numerous articles, only the prior art related to the preferred embodiment and use of the present invention will be discussed.
For many years, automatic transmission friction plates have been produced in large quantities for many types of vehicles. These automatic transmission friction plates are manufactured by bonding friction material to appropriately configured metal rings and then impregnating the friction material with a suitable resin. Thereafter, each friction plate is exposed to a sufficient heat to cure the resin. The curing of the resin is accomplished by transporting the friction plate through an oven at a suitable temperature, the transit time being adequate to cure the resin.
In the prior art, these friction plates have been mass-produced through the use of a conventional transport system, including robotic equipment operating in combination with a conveyor belt. The robotic equipment (e.g., a robotic arm) actively removes the impregnated friction plates from a lead screw delivery mechanism and rotates each friction plate about an axis perpendicular to the axis of the friction plate for placement flat on the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt then transports the friction plates along a horizontal plane through an oven for the curing operation. Thereafter, the friction plate is removed from the conveyor belt and packaged.
This conventional transport system possesses a number of disadvantages. For example, robotic equipment as currently used is incapable of supporting production rates greater than current levels. Additionally, conventional robotic equipment is expensive, not easily maintained, and quite difficult to synchronize with other delivery mechanisms due to its overall complexity. Also, transporting the friction plates flat on the conveyor through the oven is not the most efficient use of the oven volume because of the inability to stack the friction plates on the conveyor.